SHE IS TWENTY SIX
By: Devon Haemer

She is twenty-six -
Invincible.
A vibrant woman, so self-assured.
Until she goes low -
That dreaded moment when
Her confidence plunges,
A waterfall of panicky tears.
Suddenly she is two again -
Begging juice and peanut butter cracker
Off complete strangers at the beach.
How humiliating!
These moments are the sludgy bogs
That slurp down her hopes.
She slumps, anchored fast to the beach towel,
While her foggy brain gets pummeled by vicious waves of doubt.
“Can I endure these lows and highs,
These needles and numbers forever?!”
“I can’t possibly travel abroad like this!”
“How will I ever handle motherhood as a diabetic?!”
Then the juice and crackers manage to saturate
Her body’s yearning cells.
And her thoughts allow her space to breathe.
She has energy, enough energy to unbury her hopes.
And she is twenty-six, again –
Nearly invincible
A vibrant woman, self-assured.